We Finally Know What Happened To Ruth Madoff

The following article contains mentions of mental health and suicide.

For better or worse, Ruth Madoff is living proof of that statement. Her husband, Bernard "Bernie" Madoff, was once the chairman of the NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) stock market. He became infamous for operating history's largest Ponzi scheme, starting as early as the 1980s. The amount of money his investors lost is estimated to be upward of $65 billion. Bernie's crimes only caught up with him during the 2008 financial crash, when many investors called for a return of their invested funds — which he was unable to comply with because he had no new investors. 

While most eyes were on Bernie during the fiasco, onlookers wondered if Ruth had any serious involvement in the whole sordid affair. Ruth helped maintain some of her husband's critical accounts from the beginning of the Ponzi scheme up until 2008, but she and her husband claimed she was unaware of any wrongdoing. While Bernie pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 150 years in prison in June 2009, Ruth was never charged of any crime, much less convicted, which raises an interesting question: Where is Ruth Madoff now?

After the Ponzi scheme scandal broke in 2008, Ruth Madoff revealed she and Bernie Madoff attempted suicide that Christmas Eve. Ruth spoke openly about the incident with Matt Lauer on "Today" in 2011, recalling how she and her husband took whatever pills were in their home after discussing suicide for 15 minutes, and then went to bed. However, when asked about the subject of suicide by New York Magazine in 2011, he said, "I never thought of taking my life. It's just not the way I am."

Diana B. Henriques, who wrote a book on the scandal titled "The Wizard of Lies," was asked her opinion on these conflicting stories. Henriques came to the conclusion that Ruth's claim was plausible, as she was under unprecedented pressure at the time, partially due to all the publicity she was facing. In an interview with CNN, Henriques said she found Ruth's account "genuine" and "authentic." Reflecting on her actions, Ruth said, "It was very impulsive, and I'm glad we woke up."

Ruth Madoff was initially silent about Bernie Madoff's crimes. After Bernie's sentencing, Ruth issued a statement: "I am breaking my silence now because my reluctance to speak has been interpreted as indifference or lack of sympathy for the victims of my husband Bernie's crime, which is exactly the opposite of the truth" (via Time). "I am embarrassed and ashamed. Like everyone else, I feel betrayed and confused. The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years." 

Ruth also revealed she had a difficult time processing what her husband had done. In her eyes, her husband was universally beloved and he loved so many people in return. With that in mind, she struggled to understand how Bernie could ruin the lives of those who loved him. She said that many people who knew Bernie, including those who had been defrauded, saw a massive discrepancy between who he appeared to be and who he actually was.

Ruth Madoff stood by Bernie Madoff, but later came to regret it. Bernie and Ruth's son, Mark Madoff, decided to cut off all contact with his father the day the Ponzi scheme became public knowledge. He also took issue with his mother's decision to stand by her man. Mark's wife, Stephanie Madoff Mack, wrote a book titled "The End of Normal: A Wife's Anguish, A Widow's New Life," in which she discussed Mark's decision to cut off his mother. "He never wanted to hurt Ruth, he just wasn't ready to see her yet," she penned. "He couldn't understand how she could continuously stand by this man who ruined so many lives. Who ruined his life."

After attempting suicide in October 2009, Mark issued his mother an ultimatum from the psychiatric ward in which he was admitted, explaining that he would not talk to her unless she stopped seeing Bernie. Sadly, Ruth did not comply. Mark later died by suicide. "I'll regret to my dying day that I didn't do what [Mark] asked about me not seeing Bernie," Ruth wrote in an email to Stephanie on the day of her son's death (via ABC News). "It's too late. What a fool I was."

On the second anniversary of Bernie Madoff's arrest, his son, Mark Madoff, died by suicide in his home. Leading up to Mark's death in December 2010, he was reportedly upset by media conjecture that he and his brother, Andrew Madoff, were likely going to face criminal charges. Mark was also anxious due to a series of lawsuits directed at him and other family members.

Ruth Madoff said that Mark's death caused her to finally stop associating with Bernie. "Mark's suicide just was the end of it for me," she told Diana B. Henriques for The New York Times. "And then, there are a lot of other things, of course. The victims, I mean the suffering they're going through now is just beyond anything imaginable ... the enormity of what he did to get this thing going, the magnitude of what he actually had to do ... it took a very long time for me to realize that." Mark died at 46 years and is survived by his wife and four children from two marriages.

After Mark Madoff's death, Ruth Madoff flew from Florida to Connecticut for his funeral, but was forbidden to attend. This was because Mark's widow, Stephanie Madoff Mack, turned her away. Instead, Ruth mourned her son by having a shiva all by herself.

In Stephanie's book "The End of Normal: A Wife's Anguish, A Widow's New Life," which she wrote after Mark's death, she explained the issues she had with Ruth following Mark's first attempt to die by suicide. "She felt that she needed to be with Bernie," Stephanie wrote. "But that didn't make sense to me. Bernie was gone. My husband is lying in a psych ward ... And you're still gonna stand by Bernie? A monster?"

When his fraud was made public, Bernie Madoff had to forfeit all his rights to $170 billion in assets. His lawyer asked the government to allow Ruth Madoff to keep nearly $70 million in assets, arguing that they were not connected to Bernie's crimes. Ultimately, Ruth was forced to forfeit assets totaling $80 million, including her home. Afterward, she was allowed to keep $2.5 million. The government seized the Madoffs' $11 million Florida home, their $7 million Manhattan apartment, and their $3 million Long Island home, as well as multiple cars and boats. Everything was sold so that the proceeds could be given to Bernie's victims.

During a "60 Minutes" interview in 2011, Ruth discussed the $2.5 million. She noted that most people would see that $2.5 million as a large amount of money, adding it was "certainly enough" for her. "I've used a lot for the legal fees," she added. When confronted with the idea that the Madoffs still had a secret stash of money, she dismissed it, joking, "I wish they'd find it and give it all back."

Following the Bernie Madoff scandal, Andrew Madoff cut off his mother immediately. Ruth Madoff contrasted this behavior to that of her other son, Mark Madoff, and his wife, Stephanie Madoff Mack. "At the beginning, I had a very close relationship with Mark and Stephanie," Ruth told Diana B. Henriques in 2011. "They didn't cut me off at all. Andrew did right from the start. But Andrew later told me that he and Mark had had a conversation and they said they would take me in." However, Ruth's lawyers initially told her not to contact her sons, so she was unaware of this conversation until a few months after the scandal erupted.

Andrew isolated himself as a way of coping with the disgrace his family faced. In a 2014 interview with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Andrew said he had recently reconciled with his mother after they became estranged. In contrast, he had no interest in reconciling with his father. When the scandal broke, Andrew's cancer was in remission but he relapsed, which he blamed on the stress his father's actions placed upon him. He died in 2014 at the age of 48.

Ruth Madoff revealed she fell in love with Bernie the first time they met — though, she couldn't explain why. She felt he was very handsome in his youth and they had a chemistry that couples don't always have, even if they have many common interests and shared beliefs. According to Ruth, other men were interested in her during her youth, but she ignored them in favor of Bernie.

"I was so young, though," Ruth told Diana B. Henriques in 2011. "I mean, [I] had the opportunity. I never even gave it a chance. I had no interest. I was smitten. So silly now. I guess there's just a chemistry sometimes." Ruth was so dedicated to her husband that she gave up on her own career ambitions so that she could work to pay for Bernie to go to law school.

While Ruth publicly disavowed Bernie's actions, she did not divorce him. In her 2011 "60 Minutes" interview, she said she wasn't sure why she declined to divorce her husband. She expected Bernie to die in prison and she had no intent to enter the dating scene. In 2021, Bernie Madoff died in prison from a combination of plaque build-up in his arteries, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease.

Following the fallout from Bernie Madoff's scandals, Ruth Madoff moved multiple times. With the $2.5 million she retained, Ruth relocated to an exclusive condominium in Boca Raton, Florida, for a brief period of time before moving to Old Greenwich, Connecticut, to be closer to her three grandchildren. She stayed for two years at a home owned by her son, Andrew Madoff, and his ex-wife, Deborah West. When asked about Ruth, her neighbor, Mike Worden, told the New York Post, "She was a very nice neighbor is all I have to say."

Two months after Andrew's death, Ruth was forced to leave his former home for unknown reasons. She relocated to a gated community in Old Greenwich called The Gables, where she consciously avoids people who lost money in Bernie's Ponzi scheme. Regardless, she was able to make new friends among members of a local church congregation. A family friend told New York Magazine that Ruth reflected on her new life after her husband's fraud was exposed. "'At night, it gets to me — the shame, the disgrace, all the stuff that killed Mark,'" she told the source.

Bernie Madoff set off an earthquake, not just in the world of finance, but in popular culture as well. The Madoff scandal has been referenced in everything from the "Seinfeld" reunion episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" to the heavy metal song "Face to the Floor" by Chevelle.

One of the most prominent portrayals of Bernie and Ruth Madoff was the TV miniseries "Madoff" in 2016. On the show, Bernie is played by Richard Dreyfuss while Ruth Madoff is portrayed by Blythe Danner, mother to Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow. Interestingly, Danner and Ruth actually met. In an interview with People, the actor described Ruth as "fragile," noting she "wasn't thrilled" with the idea of a miniseries dramatizing the Madoff scandal.

Danner had some kind things to say about Ruth, though. "It must be painful to have to relive it," she said. "Obviously, she had been through the mill. But she was lovely and just composed. Her daughter-in-law had said how much her kids enjoy being around her and you know as a grandmother it's a very nice thing to hear."

In 2017, Michelle Pfeiffer returned to Hollywood after disappearing for years. One of the roles she booked was to play Ruth Madoff in the television film "The Wizard of Lies" opposite Robert De Niro as Bernie Madoff. The film was directed by Barry Levinson, known for critically-acclaimed movies such as "Diner," "Rain Man," and "Good Morning, Vietnam."

In an interview with Page Six, Levinson revealed that Pfeiffer met Ruth. "I don't think it would be appropriate to say [Ruth] 'cooperated' with the film," Levinson said. "Michelle simply spent a little time talking to Ruth. I don't think Michelle talked much about the script. It was simply to get to know her — however brief the time spent." Reportedly, Pfeiffer spent some time sitting in Ruth's kitchen to study her.

During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Pfeiffer said she was surprised that Ruth was willing to meet with her. Pfeiffer found Ruth to be "pragmatic" and "straightforward." The "Batman Returns" star said she was drawn to play Ruth because she wanted to exonerate her and her sons, Mark and Andrew Madoff. In addition, Pfeiffer said she felt Ruth was doing what she could to rebuild her reputation.

After the Bernie Madoff scandal, it was natural to wonder whether Ruth would still be able to live a lavish lifestyle. In 2021, the New York Post reported that she lived in a $3.8 million waterfront mansion in Connecticut. The property is owned by Susan Elkin, the first wife of Ruth's son, Mark Madoff. Together, Susan and Mark had two children, Daniel and Kate Madoff. The home has its own private dock.

While Ruth doesn't live in any of the homes she once did when Bernie was still alive, someone tried to return one of her old pieces of furniture to her. In 2021, a New Yorker named Tally Wiener purchased the antique bed that Bernie and Ruth used to sleep in. "I felt the gravity of the forfeiture of Ruth's bed because of the crimes her husband had committed, and I said I would give it back if she wanted it," Wiener told the New York Post. "I felt bad for Ruth, and thought she also was a victim." Wiener tried to reach out to Ruth to see if she wanted the bed back, but did not receive a response.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, is struggling, or in crisis, help is available:

• Please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
• Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.